ALL NOVEL chapter 5
5
5. Emi Sasaki
Indeed, she exists.
“Emi Sasaki” appears as a supporting character in “Breaking the Chains of Sorrow.”
Yes, not as the heroine, but as a supporting character.
I hadn’t even considered such a minor supporting character.
Her youthful features, the tearful beauty mark under her left eye, her short stature, and the short twin-tail hairstyle—that’s Emi’s visual.
As a supporting character, there’s almost no variation in her visual appearance—a rather careless treatment.
Personality-wise, she’s a “dependent” character.
However, she’s dependent not on the protagonist, Takeru Jumonji, but on Hideyoshi Akechi.
“Hideyoshi-kun and I are bound by the red string of fate,”
This is Emi’s line introduced on the official website.
She plays the role of Hideyoshi’s girlfriend in the original “Breaking the Chains of Sorrow.”
This line belongs to the common route that was still free of depressing game elements and was accused of being a demo deception.
It’s what Emi says when Hideyoshi casually saves her from being hit on, setting the impression of “Hideyoshi, the friend who may seem frivolous but has a sense of justice when it counts,” and leading to a misleading portrayal.
Moreover, I remember the original official website providing such a false explanation.
That’s what led to the game’s post-release controversy…
This girl, she’s totally an insider, isn’t she?
I seem to recall she’s supposed to live next door to Hideyoshi…
That’s the topic the lady was talking about earlier!
The game is progressing!
As if mocking my will and determination, the game is drawing closer to my reality.
“Nice to meet you, Hideyoshi-kun.”
“Ah, yeah…”
And it’s not like they’re in mutual love just because she’s his girlfriend.
Hideyoshi declares to the protagonist, “You think I’d like that stupid girl? She’s flat-chested and not even pretty. I just wanted a pawn that would conveniently move for me. That’s why I set her up as my girlfriend under ‘command control.’ That’s all there is to it.”
Certainly, Emi isn’t a beauty, leaning more towards cute, but that’s quite an understatement.
Without the filter of being Hideyori’s girlfriend, her character design could pass for a heroine.
In the “Breaking the Chains of Sorrow” series, she’s proudly the third most unpopular (with me and the protagonist far ahead in the first and second places).
From the harassment towards the heroine, the dependency on Hideyori, to the rather poor treatment from the second installment onwards, she’s become a joke character, a total klutz.
I don’t dislike her, but all that’s left is the impression of a character “with too little happiness.”
“Amazing, seeing the Gift for the first time moved me.”
“…That’s good.”
Feeling moved by her, who would lead a miserable life because of that Gift, felt nothing but dissonance…
After all, she plays a pitiful role.
A victim of loveless treatment by the game’s creators.
“It’s our secret, just between you and me. You mustn’t tell anyone about my Gift, not dad, mom, friends, no one.”
“Okay! It’s a promise with Hideyori-kun!”
At this rate, she probably won’t tell.
There’s no need to activate the Gift unnecessarily.
I want to trust people, after all.
“Pinky promise, right? Let’s do that.”
“…Okay.”
“Pinky promises, a thousand needles if I lie. Pinky promise made.”
I let Emi do all the singing, silently entrusting her with my finger.
Since Emi is only sealing my ability to use the Gift, there’s no way for me to break the promise.
It seems children’s love for pinky promises hasn’t changed since my past life.
“I’ll take good care of it, the 10-yen coin.”
“Do whatever you like with it.”
No matter how much she cherishes it, it’s still worth just 10 yen.
If it’s in her wallet, she’ll probably end up using it to buy juice or something.
“Shall we go home then?”
“Yeah!”
Emi and I start walking away from the park.
“I moved here today.”
“So you’re the kid from next door…”
“Eh? Hideyori-kun, you live next door to me!? Please take care of me from now on!”
“Ah, yeah…”
Frankly, I’m not really interested in getting involved with Emi.
I have no intention of getting dragged into a game unnecessarily.
I’m just going to casually break away from the “Chain of Sorrow” game.
“It really is the house next door!”
Emi is frolicking with joy, but why?
She’s so carefree, even though in ten years, both Emi and I might be dead.
“Oh, Emi!”
“Ah, Mom!”
As we got near the house, Emi’s mother seemed to have come out to meet us.
“I finished cleaning up, so I was just about to head to the park to pick you up. Perfect timing.”
“Yeah!”
So that’s why Emi was at the park.
On second thought, maybe I should have stayed in my room, lazing about instead of going to the park.
“And who is this young man?”
“Hideyori-kun! He’s our neighbor!”
“Oh? Does that mean you’re the son of the Akechi family?”
Asked by Emi’s mother, I reply with a greeting, “Yes, nice to meet you.”
“What a polite boy. Thank you for playing with Emi.”
“No, I had fun too.”
“Let’s play again, Hideyori-kun!”
“Ah, yeah.”
Honestly, now that I know he’s a character in the game, he’s the last person I ever want to play with again.
“Emi seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Akechi-kun. Please look after my daughter from now on.”
I bow and part ways with the Sasaki family.
If the daughter becomes unhappy, that person will be unhappy too…
I know the fate of Emi, the fate of Emi’s family.
Because the cause of it all… is me.